Today, we have something very different for the Piano Puzzler. As the show writes, “We're celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Piano Puzzler! Bruce Adolphe joins Fred Child in the studio to discuss the evolution of our weekly musical game over the past two decades, AND Bruce also has some special "treats" to share with us.
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The guest on this week’s Al Franken podcast is Adam Schiff, who Al says talks here “on lots of stuff,” including getting kicked off the House Intelligence Committee, Trump and more.
Oh, all right, let's just make this a Steve Martin dance trilogy and be done with it. Because after all, if Steve Martin is know for anything, it's dancing, right? That and, because -- even though the other two dance videos I posted might arguably be better -- I just adore this. It is pure joy. It may be one of the most joyous sequences in movies, and simply makes we smile whenever I see it. And I've seen it a lot. I will add two things: 1) The video has 1,200 "Likes." And zero "Don't Likes." And 2) I always sort of feel bad for the people in the closing credits that run off to the side during the dance, because my guess is that no one is watching them. Three years ago, after Carl Reiner died at age 98, I posted the following article and video on July 7, 2020 -- When Carl Reiner passed away last week at the age of 98, most of the articles about him understandably focused on his influence on the history of television. His film work -- as an actor and director -- has been mentioned, but not with the detail of TV. Yet he directed some truly wonderful films, most notably Oh, God! and All of Me. And if All of Me existed only for the dance over the end credits, terrific as the movie is, that would have been enough for me. I think the dance is one of the more joyous scenes I've watched in a movie. If you haven't ever seen the movie or if you've forgotten the specifics of what gets us to the scene, here's a brief recap. Lily Tomlin plays a very wealthy invalid. She's made a deal to put her spirit in the body of a young, health, beautiful woman, played by Victoria Tennant. Through a mix-up, her spirit gets put by mistake into Steve Martin -- who gives one of the great comic performances of two people (one a woman) in one body. I rarely say someone "should have got a nomination but was overlooked," since it means someone else would have to be dropped off the list. But comedy does get overlooked, and this was a virtuoso performance. If I had to drop a nominee off from that 1985 list, I'd select Jeff Bridges in Starman. A very nice job, but this was masterful. But I digress. Anyway, we only see Tomlin when Martin passes by by mirrors, but they talk and argue throughout the movie. And eventually fall in love. And in the last scene, Martin dances with Victoria Tennant which leads to probably the best camera move in Carl Reiner's directing career. It's glorious. (I'll only add that I have always loved the actor Richard Libertini from Second City, and here he plays the swami, who you'll see at the table.) And now, on to The Dance. What a way to go out... The other day, I had a revelation. Like most revelations, it’s more an opinionated observation than the provable end result of fact, so it’s pretty much meaningless as anything substantive. It only becomes meaningful if it turns out to be true.
It came about while watching news coverage of problems that Ron DeSantis is having with his campaign. And a lot of that overlapped with things I’ve written here in the past, most notably that while DeSantis is hugely popular in Florida, he doesn’t appear to have extended that popularity in the rest of the country. Even Red states aren’t passing all the most extreme laws that they’re doing in Florida. Many are passing one or another of them, but none have gone so far off the extreme right edge that make fascism appear almost moderate. But that, to me, is bordering on obvious. The revelation was something different. It’s this – Ron DeSantis is only 44 years old. If he had been patient, forgotten about 2024, stayed quiet, fully supported Trump or whoever the Republican nominee for president would be, he stood a good chance of eventually becoming the GOP nominee himself in 2028 and very possibly president, but he’s thrown all of that away and probably ruined his political career. Trump announced his candidacy for president early. And being in the race, he was the odds-on favorite to get the nomination, even if indicted. Even if multiple-indicted. I’m sure the thinking of DeSantis was that being indicted would keep Trump from getting the nomination, but even if so, the Florida governor’s analysis was misguided. Consider: with Trump in the race against DeSantis, it doesn’t take any brilliance to know that Trump would do what he always does, and go Full Trump ridiculing his opponent mercilessly. And not only can most humans not go to the malignant narcissistic depth Trump does to attack others, but within the Republican Party, the base worships Trump, and if another Republican attacks him like he smears others, that Republican would be hated and buried and never get the nomination. But let’s say the unlikely happens, and Trump did get one-too many indictments and even is convicted, and DeSantis beats Trump for the GOP nomination. Trump, as we all know – and DeSantis should know -- is a malignant narcissist, and that means he destroys what he can’t get. So, he would go out of his way to ruin the man who defeated him for the nomination, even if that person is the standard bearer of his own party. Trump might run as a third-party candidate, he might tell his voters to stay at home, he might…oh, who knows, he’s Trump, I can’t go that deep into hell. But the point is that he’d undermine DeSantis who would lose. But then let’s fantasize that Trump actually and horrifyingly wins in 2024. All that would do to DeSantis is push him back four years, because Trump can only serve four more years. And in 2028, DeSantis would still only be a near-childlike 49 years old. Or let’s fantasize that someone else got the nomination in 2024, rather than Trump (or DeSantis). Given how the GOP has been pushing deep-fascist positions that appear to be abhorred by the public, like abortion bans, continued support of AR-15s, banning books, election denials, extremist candidates and more, it seems like a Republican candidate would have a solid chance of losing in the coming election. But – let’s say the Republican wins…and wins re-election in 2028. Ron DeSantis still would only be 53 years old in 2032. That’s a quarter of a century younger than both Trump and Joe Biden are. And again, that’s waiting eight years. All Ron DeSantis had to do was stay popular in Florida, where he won by 19 points last year, the biggest GOP margin in the state’s modern history. Stay conservative, continue to support Trump as Trump-light, which Trump loved and could promote as his political heir. Just support whoever the nominee was, and be seen as the good, loyal, conservative, Trump-supported, wildly popular governor of a critical state – and the home of Mar-a-Lago. Keep building up his profile and national acceptance. But instead – Ron DeSantis decided he wanted to take on Trump now. And therefore had to out-Trump Trump. Had to out-fascist fascists. And so, he passed the country’s most draconian abortion law. And passed an open-carry gun law that doesn’t even require a permit or training. And passed laws to ban books. And passed laws telling teachers what they couldn’t teach. And passed laws to not permit sex and gender being taught in schools – where it was not being taught, and just extended the law all the way through high school (where I think most kids have figured out sex and gender). And opposed aid to Ukraine, which was immediately ridiculed by most Republican officials and made him look out of his depth. And…and…and took on Mickey Mouse – for merely exercising its First Amendment right to say it opposed the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill. And then got outmaneuvered by Disney. And pushed back even more, against the largest employer in the state and centerpiece of tourism, the state’s biggest industry – making him anathema to big Republican donors for who government attacks on business goes against every commandment in their Big Business bible. When all he had to do be on track to become president was pretty much nothing. Instead, he’s made himself a horror to much of the country, and almost a joke of over-the-top, out-of-control fascist incompetence. The last time that I saw a Republican candidate collapse this early against Trump was Jeb Bush (sorry, I mean Jeb!), another Florida governor. There must be something in the humidity there. This isn’t to say that in time – since he’s still very young – DeSantis can redefine himself. The problem for him, though, is that unlike most candidates who try to whitewash their problematic positions, DeSantis doesn’t just have hideous fascist positions the vast majority of the public hates – he passed them as laws. He’s shown on the record who he is, and what he would do if elected to the presidency. And the thing is, I don’t think he’s stopped. I get the sense that DeSantis might see himself in such a hole that the only way out is to keep digging. And keep doubling-down. And tripling-down. Yes, Ron DeSantis is having trouble with his presidential campaign, which is all the worse because it hasn’t even been announced. But worse, I believe he has trouble not just with his campaign, but with his presidential dreams, period. I have no idea who will get the Republican nomination for president. It certainly could be Ron DeSantis. That seems unlikely to me, but given today's GOP, that's not unreasonable to at least think. But even if he gets the nomination, he hasn't shown that his act even comes close to playing outside of Florida. Which means he'd lose. Which means his presidential dreams would likely be over, at age 45. At this point, it seems that his only political future is being elected senator. And that’s no small thing. But Florida has two Republican senators. And that certainly isn't the direction Jeb! took, and just faded into obscurity. And worse, it’s not what Ron DeSantis wants. He wants to be President of the United States. And I think that dream is gone. Yesterday, I posted a video of the classic dance sketch on SNL where Steve Martin and Gilda Radner did a parody of the "Dancing in the Dark" number from the movie The Bandwagon with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. All the more impressive for being done live. The video yesterday matched the sketch side-by-side with a clip of the real number itself. After I posted that, I remembered another Steve Martin dance clip that might be even more impressive. It’s that three years after that SNL sketch, Martin (with Bernadette Peters) did a serious recreation of another Fred Astaire dance in the movie, Pennies from Heaven. And making it even “riskier” is that while the dance was going on (rather than someone on YouTube making an edit decades later…) the movie had footage of Astaire running in the background, so audiences were able to compare the two as it was happening. And Steve Martin obviously said, fine, let’s do it. I posted it here a few years ago (after having done a piece on another Steve Martin dance, one with Lily Tomlin at the end of All of Me), but this seemed like an appropriate time to repeat it. The video was sent to me by my friend Myles Berkowitz. Here's some of what I wrote at the time -- * * * I was reminded how many things Steve Martin danced in -- and all the more, how well he did so. Rare for any actor, but incredibly uncommon for a comedian. I suspect that when most people think of Steve Martin and dancing, it's likely his "Happy Feet" bit from his old stand-up act. But all this isn't that. This is serious (even if at times comic...) dancing. Pennies From Heaven stands out on several levels. Myles noted how incredibly gutsy Steve Martin was for what is basically going up against Fred Astaire. (And that's not meant metaphorically, but literally -- watch the video, you'll see). And it stands out, too, for absolutely terrific dancing. But further, as I recall, the whole movie was gutsy for him since the character is such an awful guy. Mainly, though, this with Bernadette Peters is actually, really good dancing. I understand that there is a lot of disappointment in a federal judge ruling that former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz must testify before the committee lead by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in his effort to obstruct an ongoing court case out of his jurisdiction. And I understood, too, that a lot of that disappointment is over concern that Pomerantz will give out information that will help Trump in his defense.
I’m not a lawyer. My opinion here has zero merit. But I think this concern is not only hugely unnecessary, but also if anyone is concerned it should be Jim Jordan. And Trump. I don’t even begin to know what Jordan was thinking when he subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz. Okay, in fairness, I do know – he thought that because Pomerantz resigned and then published a book slamming Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg over his handling of the case, he’d be a friendly witness for Jordan and Trump. What I don’t begin to know is why on earth he would think that??? Yes, Mark Pomerantz wrote a book slamming Alvin Bragg over his handling of the investigation of Trump. But he wasn’t trashing Bragg for prosecuting Trump – but because Bragg did not prosecute Trump. Which, it’s worth adding, Bragg is now doing! In his book, Pomerantz goes through the litany of crimes he believes Trump committed and explains in detail why Trump should have been indicted for all those crimes. And if I had to bet all the money I have in the world – and I’ll borrow money from anyone who wants to join the pool in my bet to make it the biggest bet possible -- when Democrats on the committee get their chance to question Mr. Pomerantz (and there are Democrats on the committee, a fact that Jordan seems to have forgotten), he will happily explain at great length all those crimes he believes there is enough evidence to prosecute Trump for. And if Jordan thinks he’s going to get Pomerantz to flip on his former boss he’s upset with for not indicting Trump and give away inside information about secret details the D.A.’s office has – he’s not going to do that. And he’s not going to do that for several reasons – First, in the judge’s ruling that no doubt thrills Jordan, it clearly states that Pomerantz does not have to answer any questions he feels are not appropriate. Second, Pomerantz is a very smart guy, and he has clearly stated that Trump has committed crimes, and is not about to spill information that will help Trump and Jordan out of his disagreement with Alvin Bragg. Third, his disagreement with Bragg is that Bragg did not prosecute Trump, so he certainly isn’t against going to testify with information that would argue against Trump beings prosecuted now. And fourth, as a former prosecutor who wanted to see Trump tried for his crimes and convicted, Pomerantz is not going to do anything to hurt the case to convict him!! Yes, I know that in a perfect world, Mark Pomerantz would not be testify in this sham committee hearing whose only purpose is to subvert the judicial process. But, despite me not being a lawyer and having no legal evidence to back up my opinions, I also think that in the end, Mark Pomerantz testifying is going to be much worse for Jim Jordan – and Trump – than if he didn’t. As the saying goes -- Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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